5.1.2 Course Challenge, Equivalency, and External Credentials Policy

POLICY TYPE: 5.0 Educational Program Policies \ 5.1 Challenge and Appeal
EFFECTIVE DATE: 2019-07-25	LAST REVISED: 2023-10-24
THIS POLICY APPLIES TO: Contractors – Individuals engaged to provide services under a contract with SelfDesign Learning Foundation Support Providers – Individuals engaged under a contract or agreement with SelfDesign Learning Foundation to provide services for a specific learner Families – Learners and parents(s)/guardian(s) of learners participating in SelfDesign Learning Foundation’s programs Volunteers – Individuals providing goods/services under the terms of an agreement with SelfDesign Learning Foundation Board Members – Members of the Board of Directors for SelfDesign Learning Foundation and the Foundation for SelfDesign (FSD)

Policy Statement

SelfDesign Learning Foundation (SDLF) is committed to supporting learner graduation by the earning of credits for courses taken elsewhere or challenged.

Definitions

None

Policy

SelfDesign Learning Foundation will uphold that learners at a high school level have the right to be assessed to receive credits for courses successfully completed elsewhere or challenged.

Protocol

Course Challenge

SelfDesign Learning Community undertakes course challenges to honour and credit work a learner has already completed independently or in the community. Learners enrolled with a Board of Education are entitled to undertake a free Challenge process. Documented and undocumented prior learning can be assessed. This includes any Ministry developed graduation program course. The course challenge:

Is not undertaken to “save” the learner time or the trouble of taking a course.

Is not available to learners who have already:
- challenged the course and received a passing grade.
- completed the course though previous enrolment.
- been granted equivalency for the course.

Prior to engaging in the course challenge process, the school principal or their designate will review any documentation of prior learning that a learner presents in order to determine if credit can be awarded through equivalency.

Where necessary the school principal or their designate will assign an appropriately certified educator to conduct the course challenge who must deliver and document the course challenge assessment delivered to the learner.

To receive credit for a course, a learner must obtain at least a 50% minimum grade/score in the course challenge assessment. This course challenge assessment is created by SelfDesign educators, and the award credit is based on the same standards used for learners who have taken the course through enrolment.

The school principal or their designate must document the course challenge assessment delivered to each learner, including a pre-challenge equivalency review, and the documentation must be made available to Ministry auditors, if requested.

Learners should be able to demonstrate their readiness to challenge a course based on factors such as:
- a recommendation for a previous teacher
- evidence that relevant learning has been acquired outside the regular classroom setting.

School staff, in consultation with learners and parents, will make the decision about readiness. Examples of assessment strategies that could be used in a course challenge process include such things as hands-on demonstrations, oral performances, interviews, written examinations, or presentations of a collection of work. The demonstration should not be an onerous process.

For reporting and transcript purposes, SelfDesign will assign a letter grade and percentage to all credits awarded through course challenge processes.

After the school principal, or their designate, signs off on the course challenge process, successful course challenges will be reported to the Ministry of Education and Child Care through the Transcript and Examination (TRAX) system, by June 30 for the July reporting period of the school year in which the course challenge occurred.

Equivalency

Courses (or programs) taken outside the B.C. school system may qualify for equivalency credit if:

Sufficient content has been covered to enable the learner to be successful in further learning in the content area.

The learner provides documentation that the learning standards of the course were successfully completed.

Learners will provide documentation that the learning standards of the course were successfully completed. The following will be compared for equivalency when reviewing the documentation:

learning standards.

general subject matter.

depth and breadth of coverage or subject matter.

assessment methods, instruments, and standards.

SelfDesign will assign a percentage to all credits awarded through equivalency. If the learner’s documents show only a letter grade or level, SelfDesign may choose to assign a percentage, based on the mid-point of the matching B.C. letter grade range. SelfDesign may use Transfer Standing (TS) if it is not possible to determine a letter grade and a percentage from the documentation.

External Credentials

Although external credentials may contribute toward graduation requirements, they may or may not meet general or specific admissions requirements for post-secondary institutions. It is learners’ responsibility to verify admissions requirements for the post-secondary institutions they plan to attend.

In order to earn credit for an approved credential, learners must provide the appropriate documentation proving successful completion of the external assessment, course, or program.

Learners may have earned an approved external credential prior to entering grade 10. If so, they are awarded credit if they present their credential any time after they enter grade 10.

For reporting and transcript purposes, schools must assign all credits received as a result of an external credential either a letter grade or percentage, if possible to determine. If impossible to determine, Transfer Standing (TS) may be used.